The Myth of Personal Creation often happens in the most unlikely places and moments. Thinking about James Dyson’s story feels more like a devotion to his work than merely pursuing the success of a product. Dyson invented his revolutionary Dual Cyclone vacuum cleaner, which was not just the start of his business journey; it seemed more like a serendipitous brainstorm, as though he just wanted to make a vacuum cleaner in his own backyard.
The Hero’s Journey often quietly emerges in ordinary life, just as depicted in the movie “Pad Man,” where a man with only primary education looks for ways to produce low-cost sanitary pads for his wife’s health. He is misunderstood by the villagers as a madman, unaware that his actions would lead to innovation.
In 1978, 31-year-old Dyson began to battle traditional vacuum cleaners. He noticed that once the bag filled with dust, the suction of bagged vacuum cleaners would decrease. He realized that the cost of replacing the bag was almost equal to buying a new vacuum cleaner. Therefore, he resolved to develop a bagless vacuum cleaner, sold his shares in the company he owned, was burdened with debt, and the family’s financial support was solely on his wife. For most people, this “fight” hardly made any sense.
Using the words of mythological expert Joseph Campbell, Dyson’s challenge is like being lured into a parallel world by the vacuum cleaner in the backyard. After studying numerous global myths, Campbell discovered that the so-called “Hero’s Journey” usually includes entering an extraordinary state from the normal world and eventually returning with a treasure that benefits the public. This pattern has become the golden rule of Hollywood narrative creation, revealing the interactions between “I” and “not-I,” the individual, and the external world, a principle highly revered by Western intellectual elites like Steve Jobs.
In Dyson’s case, after five years of effort and 5,126 failures, he finally created a prototype that satisfied him and named the post-modern pink vacuum cleaner “G-Force.” In 1983, even though G-Force made it onto the cover of design magazines, no investor was optimistic about the product; they considered it a novelty with uncertain market prospects. The bag industry was an important sector worth a billion pounds at the time, involving complex interests that made industry insiders shun Dyson’s invention.
Only when a manager at Lloyds Bank casually talked to his wife about a bagless vacuum cleaner that allowed one to visibly see the dust did he get unexpected positive feedback from her—normally, people do not like to confront dust. But clearly, Dyson and his invention had started to resonate with market needs.
Facing numerous challenges, James Dyson finally secured a loan of £500,000 from a bank, which he used as a basis to take the risk and mortgage his own property. He used these funds to start producing vacuum cleaners. However, these initial products did not receive the expected response in the domestic market. In 1985, Dyson arrived in Japan with his G-Force vacuum cleaner and achieved great success in this country renowned for lean production. His product won an important award at the Japan International Design Fair in 1991. The G-Force vacuum cleaner, priced at $2,000, became a status symbol amongst Japan’s wealthy class.
Just as a road to fame in the Peking Opera circle of the past: learn the art in Beijing, get famous in Tianjin, and then reap reputation and wealth on the high-end stages of Shanghai. The approval of the Tianjin audience is a guarantee of quality for any Peking Opera performer. Dyson’s success in the Japanese market is like the affirmation of a Peking Opera master by the fans in Tianjin, becoming the springboard for his fame. The film “Farewell My Concubine” portrays the process of relentless practice and skill refinement, which coincides with Dyson’s tireless pursuit of perfecting his products.
Leveraging the profits from the Japanese market, Dyson decided to invest in research and development in his native UK for a new type of vacuum cleaner named after himself. In June 1993, he set up a research center and production factory in the Cotswolds and launched the DC01—the first generation of vacuum cleaner with persistent suction power, widely praised for its ability to suck up minuscule particles like cigar smoke.
The advent of DC01 allowed Dyson to shine in the European market, including the UK, not only propelling James Dyson into the ranks of the richest in Britain, becoming one of the country’s largest property owners, but also earning him the title of Sir in the UK, and the knowledge that his products were well-liked by the British royal family. However, in Dyson’s global blueprint, the UK market only accounted for 4%, while Asia, especially emerging markets, became his “lifeline”.
In recent years, Dyson has moved its production base to Malaysia and earlier this year relocated its headquarters to Singapore, bringing its corporate center closer to the fastest-growing Asian market. Even as a public supporter of Brexit, James Dyson was the first to “Brexit” his company, preparing in advance for a new economic map.
After establishing a foothold in Europe, Dyson turned its attention to the U.S. market at the beginning of the 21st century. In the U.S. TV shopping programs, unlike the general talk show style, Dyson chose to share the story of 5,126 failures he encountered in the development process. These seemingly dull stories unexpectedly gained recognition for Dyson and his vacuum cleaners in the North American market.
Later on, Dyson company formed a special tradition of letting engineers introduce the products. Engineers treat the products like parents treat their children, with meticulous attention bearing deep affection and active listening to consumer feedback. This attitude resonates more with consumers when introducing the products.
In the company culture, James Dyson always emphasizes driving innovation with an engineer’s mindset. “We employ engineers, and cultivate their design abilities in practice. Design is not about leading technology, but is generated based on technology. Only with advanced technology do we pursue excellent design. What we aim for is not merely products with an attractive appearance, we aspire to create products with outstanding functions and design them on that basis.” Dyson has successfully trained engineers into excellent designers with this strategy.
Although as early as 2006, Dyson established a hand dryer factory in Nanjing, the formal entry into the Chinese market began in 2012.
In the Chinese market, this company has stood unparalleled over the past six years. Since 2018, in China’s vacuum cleaner retail market, the company’s market share has reached up to 60%. Its official experience stores also account for one-third of the global layout. Especially a certain curling iron launched last year became a hot topic on the internet, gaining favor among urban females for a time and becoming a symbol of their lifestyle quality. It was so sought after that it sold out on e-commerce platforms and even caused a stir in the hairdressing industry. Nevertheless, as time passed, some consumers reported that the curling iron wasn’t as good as advertised, leading to certain negative reviews.
The first impression of this product line is expensive; whether it’s the robot vacuum that costs over 6000 yuan, the electric fan that costs over 4000 yuan, or the vacuum cleaner, hair dryer, and curling iron that cost over 3000 yuan. When asked why the prices of similar products were ten times more expensive, Dyson thoughtfully responded: “How much do you think a product that solves your personal pain points is worth?” Their significance far exceeds the products themselves.
The concept of Disruptive Innovation, according to management expert Christensen, usually starts by fulfilling basic functionalities and enters the low-end market, gradually building up to disrupting the whole industry. However, Dyson’s product strategy breaks the mold, taking advantage of the opportunities of consumer upgrading in various regional markets, quickly capturing the middle-class market. During this period, traditional domestic appliance companies are still struggling in price wars with e-commerce giants like Suning, JD.com, Alibaba’s Tmall, and Pinduoduo.
Dyson solves the “pain points” of products by supporting large-scale R&D through the sale of high-priced products. This strategy is similar to the operations of some leading pharmaceutical companies. According to an interview with Dyson’s CEO Max Conze in 2017, the company’s weekly R&D spending reached 7 million pounds, with an annual expenditure of 365 million pounds, approximately 3.2 billion yuan in RMB. Even though many in the industry believe that while Dyson products are well-designed and strongly marketed, they are not cost-effective, such views overlook Dyson’s substantial investment in R&D. People often have a deep pursuit of meaning and are willing to pay a multiple of the price for a better experience.
Take the traditional hairdryer for example—due to the slow airflow, it needs to heat the air to achieve a quick drying effect, not only creating noise but also potentially causing irreversible damage to the consumer’s hair. Dyson believes that if these two major pain points—damage to hair and noise—are resolved, consumers naturally will not mind the price of the product. After countless trials and efforts, the Dyson team finally developed a hollow design for their hairdryer, solving these problems. It increased the outlet airflow while avoiding hair damage and noise, hence proving once more the critical importance of product innovation and consumer experience.
When engineers asked the renowned inventor Dyson whether it was necessary to forgo a certain key feature in order to expedite product launch, Dyson firmly refused. He insisted that if a pioneering product could be introduced, he would rather discard the current design plan. Later, the research team was inspired by the subsonic waves emitted by bats: even if the motor’s rotation speed could not be reduced and noise would still be generated, if the speed was increased to a certain level, the frequency of sound would surpass the range of human hearing, thus solving the quietness issue.
Based on this concept, the research and development team designed and manufactured a motor that weighs only 49 grams and has a diameter of 27 millimeters, with 13 blades and a rotational speed of up to 110,000 revolutions per minute, which is the ninth generation of digital aerodynamic motors. It took engineers four years to design more than 600 prototypes and nearly 50 million British pounds in research and development. It is because of this relentless effort that Dyson’s much-anticipated hair dryer was finally born.
While overcoming many challenges in the invention of vacuum cleaners, Dyson also unintentionally opened a hidden door, that is, further development of engine technology. In the current context where computational power technology is highly valued, increasing power remains a practical issue. Dyson not only challenged the concept of “disruptive innovation,” but he also contested some economists’ skepticism about “craftsmanship.” In their view, products only need to be refined to a certain extent, as entrepreneurs must innovate within the constraints of time and cost.
Management guru James March noted: “Organizations are committed to exploring new knowledge, pursuing unknown fields, as well as utilizing known knowledge and developing existing technology.” He also said that although Don Quixote may not be a model leader, leaders should learn from him.
Dyson once promised to invest 1.5 billion British pounds in technology research and development and plans to launch 100 new products worldwide. This entrepreneur, similar to Don Quixote, despite encountering commercial difficulties, still holds on to his honor as an inventor and designer. He announced with great fanfare an investment of 2.5 billion British pounds to enter the automotive industry and looks forward to launching a prototype car. However, after announcing the abandonment of the electric vehicle project, James Dyson affirmed the efforts of the automotive team in an internal letter and stated that unused funds will continue to be used for research and development of technologies such as solid-state batteries and engines. In the letter, he candidly stated that the main reason for abandoning the electric car was because it was not profitable. Compared to Dyson’s previous household appliance products, electric vehicles have over 10,000 parts and a higher technical threshold, and they require vehicle platforms, whole vehicle manufacturing experience, a parts supply chain, and intelligent connectivity technology.
For the limited investment of 2.5 billion British pounds, for the automotive industry, it is just a drop in the bucket. Moreover, since its inception, Dyson has not had external financing, and the company is still 100% owned by him. Unlike Elon Musk, Dyson is dealing with his own hard-earned money. When facing this issue, Dyson put aside his touted identities as an inventor and industrial designer and became practical, like a true “entrepreneur,” in front of rational commercial considerations. Even with core competitiveness in battery and engine technologies, Dyson also wisely chose to retreat, which is deeply ironic for Chinese companies that are eagerly participating in the automotive manufacturing trend.
Dyson, a distinguished designer, has an educational background that can be traced back to the prestigious Royal College of Art. There, he specialized in the knowledge of furniture and interior design. After becoming a rising star in the design world, Dyson had invested his talent into designing yachts for a certain company.
In 1974, the innovative pioneer of the design world, Dyson, began designing his own ballbarrow. This groundbreaking design was widely recognized and won the Building Innovation Award in 1977. Later on, in 1979, Dyson decided to sell his shares in the ballbarrow company to fully engage in an “accidental encounter” with a vacuum cleaner, a result of his diligent work in his own backyard.
Dyson’s entrepreneurial philosophy seeks unfettered innovation. To foster this spirit, he established a unique department within the company called NPI. The members of NPI had a special task: they were to daydream during the daylight, coming up with bold ideas without immediately considering the feasibility. As long as these ideas were affirmed by the reviewing committee, they had the chance to be introduced to the R&D center and begin the actual development process.
When James Dyson recalls that revolutionary vacuum cleaner, he proudly shares this dreamlike entrepreneurial journey. He stated, “It’s truly astonishing that an obscure company could, relying on such an unconventional product, quickly rise to a leading position in the American market among similar products. I’ve pondered deeply, since The Beatles, which other Briton has achieved such conspicuous success. However, after much thought, I could not find another example of such marked success.”
